Energoatom will receive a new head and a renewed board by October — Shmyhal

NNEGC Energoatom may receive a new chairman of the board no later than October 2026. The international competition for the position is planned to be completed in September.

This was stated by First Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal during a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Energy and Housing and Communal Services.

“I hope that the competition for the chairman of the board will be finalized in September. At the latest in October, there will be a chairman of the board and the board will be renewed,” Shmyhal noted.

The competition for a new head is already underway

The Supervisory Board of Energoatom previously announced an international competitive selection for the position of chairman of the company’s board. The deadline for submitting documents was set for July 31, 2026.

The company’s Supervisory Board has been renewed.

Since August 2025, Energoatom has been temporarily headed by Pavlo Kovtonyuk. He was appointed after the termination of the powers of Petro Kotin, who left the position of acting chairman of the board at his own request.

Prior to this, Kovtonyuk headed the Rivne NPP since June 2022, and previously worked as the plant’s chief engineer.

Energoatom plans to merge Skhidnyi Mining and Processing Plant

The personnel changes are taking place against the backdrop of plans for a large-scale reorganization of the nuclear industry.

On June 30, the Verkhovna Rada supported in the first reading government bill No. 15122 on the transformation of the state-owned enterprise Skhidnyi Mining and Processing Plant into a joint-stock company, 100% of whose shares will belong to the state.

The next stage should be the merger of Skhidnyi Mining and Processing Plant with Energoatom and the creation of a vertically integrated holding.

According to Shmyhal, the new management of Energoatom plans to work out the financial plan of Vostogok, the issue of repaying its debts and the further operation of the enterprise.

Vostogok’s debts reach UAH 9.8 billion

The financial condition of the Vostogok remains difficult.

According to the Ministry of Energy, the enterprise’s accounts payable is about UAH 9.8 billion. This is almost three times more than the book value of its fixed assets – about UAH 3.6 billion.

In particular, the debt to Energoatom is UAH 3.3 billion, to the state budget – about UAH 400 million. The rest falls on other suppliers.

The Ministry of Energy, together with the enterprise, is developing a three-year financial recovery plan. It provides for the gradual repayment of debts and an increase in uranium production from 25 to 40 tons per month.

At the same time, for VostogZK to break even, it is necessary to produce about 50 tons per month.

VostogZK provides Ukraine with its own uranium

VostogZK is the only enterprise in Ukraine engaged in the extraction of uranium ore and the production of natural uranium concentrate.

The enterprise provides up to 40% of the uranium needs of Ukrainian nuclear power plants and, according to its data, is among the ten largest global producers with a share of about 2% of global production.

The strategic goal remains to provide the Ukrainian nuclear power industry with its own uranium raw materials.